In 2019, the
Philippine Navy raised a requirement to procure a new class of Fast Attack Interdiction Craft (FAIC) that would be missile-capable and are based on Israel's
Shaldag V patrol boat design, to replace the fast attack craft that had been retired from service. Israel Shipyards Ltd. had offered the
Shaldag V design to the Philippine Navy as early as 2016. Funding to pursue the proposal was not available until a few years afterwards. A contract was signed between the (DND), Israel Shipyards Ltd. and Israeli Ministry of Defense in February 2021, with the Notice to Proceed to start the effectivity of the contract released in April 2021. The first boat of the class, the (PG-901), was launched in June 2022, and became the basis for the class' name. The hull number's use of "PG" indicates that the boats are classified as Patrol Gunboats based on Philippine Navy's 2016 naming classification standards. But the globally, the Shaldag is recognized as a fast attack interdiction craft (FAIC) and missiled (FAIC-M). In November 2022, Rear Admiral Toribio Acaci indicated that the service plans to acquire a total of 15 more
Acero-class / Shaldag Mk. V patrol gunboats in the near future. Two more
Acero-class gunboats were delivered on 11 April 2023, and commissioned on 26 May 2023. On 12 April 2024, a field test was conducted where a Spike missile was fired in the waters of Mariveles, Bataan. On 8 May 2024, BRP
Lawrence Narag participated in the maritime strike exercise of Balikatan 2024, which consisted of a
sinking exercises (SINKEX) using the decommissioned as a target ship. The
Lawrence Narag fired a
Spike-NLOS missile and successfully hit the target during the exercise. On 18 June,
Lawrence Narag was assigned to Naval Forces Western Mindanao and deployed to Zamboanga City. ==Technical details==